Arabian Knights But Game Doesn’t Change

When evaluating West Asian foreign policy and geopolitical balances, viewing political actors and states as monolithic, homogeneous blocs is a profound mistake. To accurately decode the complex aftermath of Israel’s elections, and region’s trajectory, particularly the Iran-Israel conflict, this superficial lens needs to be discarded.At the time of going to print, there were no clear winners in the election that saw a historic turnout. Netanyahu’s rightwing bloc is ahead of its centrist rival, Eisenkot’s bloc, but without a majority. But what is abundantly clear is the phenomenal rise of Arab parties, whose strong showing cannot be overlooked during govt formation. This will be a complex affair of coalition politics, in Israel’s proportional representation system, that gives parties seats basis vote shares. The Arab parties are projected to win at least 17 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.